On this page

• Text (4)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    894 THE LEADEE, , fNb. 468. July 30, 185...

  • 

    MARIE STUART. By Alphonse de Lamfirtine....

  • 

    Maria ; but it has always fallen back up...

  • 

    POEMS. THE CITY OF THE DEAD, and other T...

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Through Carnal Media Or Capricious Preju...

    not be identified ¦ with , the principle of . Love . Shelley ' s God , in a word , -was iJbve ; and every other notion of God was with him idolatrous and superstitious , and he warred against it with all the zeal of an iconoclast . But this frame of mind is the furthest imaginable front Atheism , and belongs , indeed , to the mystical spiritualist—a character which Shelley ,, as a poet , eminently supported . Besides , Shelley firmly believed in the immortality of the soul . There is an early essay of his , contained in the volume before us , on Christianity . It is unfinished and unrevised , as most of his attempts

    at speculative -writing are . Here Shelley always felt himself mastered ; his wing wearied of mere logic , and he soon found , indeed , that he wanted the requisite terminology . There is , assuredly , much yet to be done in that field . So far as Shelley had carried the subject , he shows a desire to penetrate beneath the letter to the spirit of the New Testament ; and everywhere to prefer the most reasonable interpretation of doubtful passages . Certainly , he evinces no bibliolatry whatever , and maintains a philosophical independence of authority . But who would have expected or desired other from him ?

    " We welcome the present biography . It presents Shelley to us as he was understood by those who knew him best;—as his wife had proved him- — " a superior being among men— -a bright planetary spirit enshrined in an earthly temple . " All Shelley ' s relations with his second wife are especially lovely . Never were two minds more suitably mated—never were two such blameless livers . Facts lite these are worth volumes of prejudice , and carnal misrepresentations of the Divine in the Poet , misunderstood and consequently maligned . Imperfect as Shelley was , both as a philosopher and theologian , yet , in many respects , he was before his age , -and is the Father of a New Poetic Era .

    894 The Leadee, , Fnb. 468. July 30, 185...

    894 THE LEADEE , , fNb . 468 . July 30 , 1859 .

    Marie Stuart. By Alphonse De Lamfirtine....

    MARIE STUART . By Alphonse de Lamfirtine . —Adam and Charles Black . The style of M . Lamartine was always florid in the extreme ; but in this , / work he has found a peculiar source of excitement , and prints the Scottish Queen in colours that outshine the rainbow in vividness and varietyjof tint . He sees the saint in the sinner , the heroine in the criminal ; and glorir fies evil itself that has once been associated with her beauty . Loveliness of soul , as well as of person , can be abstractedly , according to his creed , connected with guilt of darkest dye ; nay , its

    darkher death should be imputed to her faith rather than to her faults . She wrote letters to all her relatives and friends in France and Scotland . "' My good cousin / she wrote to the Duke of Guise , ' who art the most dear to rne in the world , I bid you farewell , being ready by unjust judgment to be put to death—what ho one of our race , thanks to God , has ever suffered , much less one of my quality . But praise God , my good cousin , for I was useless

    in the world to the cause of God and of his church , being in the state in which I was ; and I . hope that my death will testify my : constancy in the faith , and my readiness to . die for the maintenance and restoration of the Catholic Church in this unhappy island ; and though never executioner dipped his hands in our blood , be not ashamed , my friend ; for the judgment of heretics and the enemies of the Church , who have no jurisdiction over me , a free queen , is profitable before God to the children of his church . If I

    had yielded to them I would not have suffered this stroke . All of our house have been persecuted by this sect ; witness your good father , with whom I hope . to be received by the mercy of the just Judge . " Mary had self-constituted herself a martyr , and thus become her own ideal ; never once looked upon her actual self , and was transfigured in her own esteem , and that of others ; among these latter , her present enthusiastic biographer . '* Blessed , " she could . confidently , however strangely , exclaim , " be the moment that will end my sad pilgrimage : a soul so cowardly as not to accept this last combat on earth would be unworthy of heaven . "

    Protestanism has no such loephole as this for the criminal . It belongs entirely to the church of Pio Nono and Antonelli . How thoroughly M . Iiamartine concurs in the same view may be un-: derstood from these words . " The Queen , guilty till-then , became transformed into a martyr by the approach of death . When the soul is truly great , it grows with its destiny ; ' her destiny was sublime , for it was at once an accepted expiation and a rehabilitation through blood . " Mary seized hold of every circumstance to corroborate this idea . " Did you hear , " she asked of an attendant , ? ' the Earl

    of Kent ? It would have taken another kind of doctor to convict me . He has acknowledged besides , that the warrant for my execution is the triumph of heresy in this country . It is true they put ine to death not as an accomplice of conspiracy , but as a queen devoted to the church . Before their tribunal my faith is my ci'ime , and the same shall be my justification before my sovereign Judge . "

    It is fearful when conscience is found hoodwinking itself ; . and more fearful- when such " flattering unctions " are made parts of a system that names itself authority and order . Crime and pious sentiment are , down to this day , reconcilable at Kome ; and elevated minds are yet to be found that concur in the wretched , union . Let M . Lamartine ' s book be read in this light , and it may afford a most instructive" example .

    ness shall serve but as a background to make the thing of beauty still brighter . Writing , probably , with some such theory as tliis , M . Lamartine has given wings to his fancy , and luxuriates in the apparent inconsistencies of Character and conduct , leaving controversy , in some regions beneath him , panting in vain after him , like Time after Shokespeai'e , or looking upward , Trondei'ing et his bold and daring flight , Much of what is anomalous and contradictory is , of course , referable to the conflicting policy and rival religiosities of her age ; and M . Lamartine , it may oe imagined , makes the most of tliese . He looks , one

    can see at a glance , on the stern Knox with little affection ; and seems to think it very unjust of destiny that the combatants should have been so unfairly matched . The ) Queen was transplanted from , a polished into a semi-barbarous country , into whichj however , the luxuries of more favoured regions had begun to penetrate , and it was hard that for the introduction of such ameliorations , she should be rebuked by the too rigid theologian . Then , too , she [ Vas surrounded with tyrannioal territorial lords , to whom life was little sacred . But

    to the Catholic Queen orime was a small thing , compared to her supposed sufferings as a martyr . We think that M . jLamartine has done good serviooin exposing this self-delusion , even while , as we think , he flhares in it . Here was the balm to her hurt mind . Not for her oriraes , but as a Roman Catholic , Mary was executed—ehe " who was a queen from the cradle ; and the first day that saw h $ v a woman saw her a queen . " Of such ft personage the life was thrice sacred ? she was consecrated . ft » d set apart . No sin could unsaint her .

    " Mary askeel , ae a single favour , not to bo executed In secret , but before b . er servants and the peoplo , so that no one might attribute to her a cowardice unworthy of her rank , and that all might bear testimony to her constancy in suffering martyrdom . Thus » p , e already spoke of nor punishment , a consolatory iaea most natural in a queen who desired that

    Maria ; But It Has Always Fallen Back Up...

    Maria ; but it has always fallen back upon the original Indian name of Cuba . And the only compensation to the hyperbolical taste of the race is that they decorate it , on state and ceremonious occasions , with the musical prefix of " La siempre fidelisima Isla de Cuba , " This is at least curious , and touched off in a lively vein . Minute and pleasing detail makes the charm of the work ; and there-are a thousand traits of character or scenery , not at all transferable from the author ' s pages to our columns . The aspect of the city , which he is most solicitous to describe , is strange and picturesque ; and he left

    TO CUBA AND BACK j A VACATION VOYAGE . By lUohard Henry Dana , Jun . —Smith , Elder , and Co . Tap reputation of . Mr . Dana as the author of " Two Years Before the Mnst " will procure a hearing for this work . His light and airy style tojkes the reader pleasantly enough from New York to the coast of Cuba . We enter with him Havana at sunrise , visit the harbour , admire the world of shipping , drive through the streets , and eat and drink at the restaurants . The following is a noticeable passage :- — ' ? The Cubans have a taste for prodigality in grandiloquent or pretty names . Every shop , tho most humble , has its name . They name tho shops after the sun and moon and stars ; after gods and goddesses , domi-gods and heroes \ after fruits and flowers , gems and precious stones ; after favourite names of women , - with pretty , fanciful additions ; and after all alluring qualities , all delights o f the senses , and all pleasing affections of tho mind . The walls of jails and hospitals are each known by some religious or patriotic designation ; and twelve guns in tho Movro are named for tho Apostles . Every town has tho name of an apostle or saint , or of some sacred subject . The full name of Havana * in hon 6 ur of Columbus , is San Cristottal de la Habana ; and that of Mntanzas is San Carlos Alcazar do Matanzas . It is strange that the island itself has defied all the Spanish attempts to name it , It has been solemnly named Juana , after the daughter of JTerdinand ana Isabella ) then Ferdinand , after Ferdinand himself t then Santiago t and lastly , Ave

    it with much regret ; or would have done so , but that the-weather in Havana was growing excessively hot . Beautiful to Mm were his nights on the equinoctial seas , on board a passenger-ship , with a company so mixed and heterogeneous that few knew of a death that occurred in it , and fewer remembered it . On his return , to ! Ne \ v York , old associations return , and blend with the latest news — " The Thirty Millions Bill withdrawn by Mr . Slidell , Congress adjourned , the Five Cent .-Postage Bill defeated , and the Sickles and Key tragedy . ' ' This last allusion assures tis that the work is written to'the . latest date * and imparts a freshness to it that remains on the mind when the book is closed .

    Poems. The City Of The Dead, And Other T...

    POEMS . THE CITY OF THE DEAD , and other Toems . By John Collett . —Rpbert Hardwicke . GILBERT 3 IARL . O \ VE , and other Poems . By William "VVhitmore . — Macmillaii and Co . Both of tliese candidates for poetic fame have gained a certain command over the medium wherein they have to work . They can put words into metre and rhyme , and select from the store of phrases those that best suit the poetic style and diction . Mr . Collett is , indeed , an easy versifier , and has tried his talents in several forms of ; metre and divers kinds of subject . Here we have the descriptive , the lyrical , the humoiirous and the sacred . As might have been expected , the third has tried the stripling minstrel the hardest . It is an Ulyssean bow in which he is yet not strong enough to shoot . But the tendency is favourable to development ^ and will hereaf ter facilitate his success , ir his mind should so strengthen as to give substance to his verses . His religious poetry seldom soars beyond common-place ; its topics-are

    rather devotional than theological , and have not called forth any originality of thought or feeling 1 . His lyrical vein is better , but there is no depth , and little variety of colouring . The leading effusion of the volume is fancifully descriptive ; but the fancy treads with tolerable safety in tho paths of memory , and the description is derived at second hand from the Bible and other sources . The " City of the Dead " is , in fact , Egypt ; and the utmost that can be said of the production is , that the blank verse moves with a steady solemnity , and contains some such promise as a tolerably good prize poem might suggest .

    Mr . Wlutmore boasts of an intellect of a sturdier kind , evidently with fewer educational advantages , but with more original power . Ho puts forth , his claims , not as a poet born or made , but as a house-painter by trade , with a soul above his craft . These claims are introduced to notice in a preface by the author of " Tom Brown ' s Schooldays , " who says what ho can in the author ' s favour * . He thinks it but reasonable , that we should sometimes regard it as " well worth our -while to buy , and read carefully , and think about , a book by a working man , while we might only hire from Mudie ' s , and glance at , a more perfect book on the same subject by a Master of Arts . " "We think so ,

    too , and arc therefore well disposed to Mr . Wuitmore and his poems . His introductory eilbrt coacerns Lady Jane Grey ,. " the ten days' Queen , " and treats the theme with satisfactory though trulnoss and feeling- Terrible images are next conjured up by the legend of ( St . Anthony . The third is a much longer poem in two parts , and entitled " Martin , " in which tho condition or tho labourer is considered and the moans of his redemption proposed . An , insurrection against machinery is described with wonderful vigour . Martin preaches to the insurgents of a " good time coining , " in eloquent versos \ to tho more favoured classes also lie preaches , against much opposition . " Still pnuflod ho not , The faith of brotuwlioou uworjpomto

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 30, 1859, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_30071859/page/18/